Early 4v SBF intake . .aftermarket as well

  • Who made, what were the earliest 4V manifolds. Not referring to the factory cast iron low rise . . I know there were cast iron high rise that the early Cobras used. What could someone purchase in the early 60s? Aftermarket? I know by '65 there were lots available . .what was the first and when were they out there for purchasing? Anything in '63? '64?

  • Holman-Moody (H-M) made aluminum 260 4V intakes by 1962 for their Ford Falcon European rally cars and marine engines. Functionally it looks like a dead ringer copy of one of the Ford Experimental High Performance 260 intakes. Designed for 260 engines Shelby American was using them and selling them over the counter for 260 and 289 engines in early 1963. Shelby advertised intakes and carburetors in magazines. Shelby offered the COBRA lettered low rise version of the H-M part as a option on new Cobras through summer 1964 and sold them over the counter for at least another year. They were listed in the May 31, 1965 parts book.

    The H-M pattern was changed a few times to make intakes for Shelby American (Cobras) and Rootes (Sunbeam Tigers). Circa summer of 1964 the first 289 high rise racing COBRA intake became available but few people bought them. Later in 1964 the GT350 and TIGER 289 high rise intakes came out, which were sold over the counter also. At some point the first version of Edelbrock F4B intake for 289s came out and the H-M / Shelby / TIGER intakes (two different ones) were dropped for Sunbeam Tiger owners.

    In their advertising Shelby American claimed to have been the first with high rise 4V intakes for 289s. 1964-1968 there was a lot of evolution and more than a dozen different versions before the last in 1968.

    Most of the high rise intakes were cast by Offenhauser but there is some evidence that at least one version was cast by Buddy Barksdale's company and another Ford itself (prototypes perhaps). Not all 4V high rise aluminum intakes (any brand) had equal performance on the dynomometer cell or race track but you probably wouldn't know the difference in a street car.

    Dan

    Edited 4 times, last by Dan Case: add detail (September 5, 2020 at 11:49 PM).

  • Thanks for your input, Dan. It is always appreciated here.

    -Fred-

    65 Koupe early San Jose Phoenician Yellow 4 speed
    66 GT Koupe Dearborn Blue 4 speed
    66 KGT San Jose fastback pony interior Silver Frost 4 speed
    64 Falcon sedan delivery 289 4 speed
    65 Ranchero 289 4 speed
    66 Corvette roadster 427/425 4 speed

  • You are welcome. I just got back from the shop library. I looked through 1964-65 "speed" catalogs and magazine year books. Through 1964 and into 1965 Holman-Moody and Shelby American were the go to aftermarket 4V aluminum intake manifold Ford 260-289 engine sources.

    The 1965 Moon catalog, for example, has zero 4V intakes for 260-289 Fords. It lists the Edelbrock 2-4V cross ram and the 2-4V low rise copy of the COBRA 2-4V intake that was released mid September 1963 as the Stage II induction option for new Cobras.

    Ford was offering the iron 4V intake to 260-289 powered racers in early 1964 through Ford dealers. Shelby offered them also in a Stage I induction kit for a long time.

    The 1964 hot aftermarket induction systems in magazines, magazine year books, and carburetion books were 2-4V, 3-2V, all kinds of multiple 1V or 2V, 4-2V Weber carburetors (mostly Cobra systems for 260s and 289), mechanical fuel injection, or some version of super charging.

    Late 1965 onward, all kinds of things became possible.

    Dan

    Edited once, last by Dan Case (January 25, 2024 at 10:36 PM).

  • One of the more interesting 1960s test comparisons I found and saved pitted a Edelbrock F4B intake and small Holley carburetor against a COBRA intake and Ford 4100 carburetor. Intakes were in out of the boxes condition. Ford 4100's won't seal on a Cobra intake with just a stock gasket. On the 1966 GT350s that used the combination a thin Bakelite spacer was required.

    hp f4b.jpg

    Dan

  • I could not find my Offenhauser brand catalog. I have lots of magazines also.

    I didn't hunt long but Shelby had the COBRA low rise 4V aluminum intake offered in a September 1963 magazine I thumbed through. The offer covered a Ford iron intake or the Cobra aluminum one, buyer's choice. A artistic rendition of the COBRA intake was shown.

    I could a few find other catalogs 1962-68 but 1966 was not covered except by Shelby. The 1964 Edelbrock catalog only has the F-28 2-4V intake for 260/289 Fords listed. The earliest I came across for other brands were advertisements for "new" 4V models in aluminum in 1967 for Offenhauser and Weiand.

    Does anybody out there have 1966 Edelbrock, Moon, Offenhauser, Weiand, or ? to consult?

    Dan

  • The first aftermarket aluminum 260 4V intake was the Holman-Moody model for their race engines.

    Holman-Moody.jpg

    Remarked COBRA, this design was used in new Cobras with 260 and 289 c.i.d. engines 1962-64. It was also advertised for sale in magazines. The picture below is one I took of my intake.

    C4SA-9421-1 intake from Dick Roush (1)_autoscaled.jpg

    The first high rise 4V intake known for Cobras was this model. They are very rare. They were not intended for street use. No PCV features, no engineering number, no part number, and very light weight thin wall casting. I have seen six of them ever and three were broken or had been broken as they are fragile. The one below was ordered for a new 1964 Cobra for dealer installation and the installation never happened. It is the only one known that has never been used. I bought it from the Cobra owner after he sold the car decades later. This is another of my pictures. In late fall 1964 the first version of S1MS GT350 intakes came out which was similar but different.

    IMG_3994_autoscaled.jpg

    Dan

  • Too much to cover here but briefly 260-289 4V intakes before the 1964½ high riser Cobra intake family developed:

    1961-62 Ford engineering prototypes and preproduction cast iron models in different casting patterns: 5 each versions that are documented.

    1962-63 Holman-Moody cast aluminum patterns: 4 each patterns based on one of the Ford prototype 260 4V intakes.

    1962-64 "COBRA" cast aluminum: 1 each pattern. (Shelby and H-M connection)

    Sunbeam Tiger: "TIGER" aluminum: 1 each pattern. (Shelby and H-M connection)

    Dan

  • I’m using a FORD lettered from the Muscle Parts era. Seems to be modeled after the F4B and Cobra/Shelby. Not sure if it’s marked C9OX or C9OZ.

    The C9OX prefix model is an excellent intake. It was created for owners to use with 351W cylinder heads on 289/non-Boss 302 short blocks. Multiple studies and racer testimonials proclaim it to be the best flowing best balance in flow intake out of the box of any of the Ford application 260/289/non-Boss 302 intakes. They are also said to be excellent to used with the C6FE cylinder heads GT40s and Group II racing Mustangs and Cougars used.

    Dan

  • One of the more interesting 1960s test comparisons I found and saved pitted a Edelbrock F4B intake and small Holley carburetor against a COBRA intake and Ford 4100 carburetor. Intakes were in out of the boxes condition. Ford 4100's won't seal on a Cobra intake with just a stock gasket. On the 1966 GT350s that used the combination a thin Bakelite spacer was required.

    hp f4b.jpg

    Dan. i run a 4100 on an aftermarket 289 cobra intake and used a regular production 289 4V aluminum carb spacer with modified gaskets to seal it, would a boss 302 bakelite spacer work better for me to seal it .

  • My choice for modified installations is a Boss 302 spacer if a PCV system is used but there were several earlier thin Bakelite Ford parts. Some had PCV connections, some were flat and some were tapered, some just a vacuum port, and some no port. Some were real thin and some were a half inch thick. There were also two thin aluminum spacers from the 1950s time frame Ford used. I have samples of most of them. Ford parts wise there was all kind of choices and many of them could be used in many more applications by enlarging their bores as required.

    Dan

    Edited once, last by Dan Case: add detail (September 9, 2020 at 5:58 PM).

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